Originally posted by Shane
"The Ju 88A-4 was finally delivered early in 1941, with the 1,400 hp Jumo 211F-1 or 211J engines."
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/christophe.arribat/stofju88.html
while i'm not advocating adding the a20, i'm just saying lose the ju-88 for once so we can see the stuka more.
AIRCRAFT SPECIFICATIONS
Full Name: Junkers Ju 88
Variants: Many versions, data given here for Ju 88A-4, C-6, G-7, S-1
Type: Originally designed as a dive bomber, but developed for level bombing, close support, night fighting, reconnaisance and as a pilotless missile
Country of Origin: Germany
Manufacturer: Junkers Flugzeugwerke AG
First Flight: (Ju 88V1) 21st December 1936; (first Ju 88A-1) 7th September 1939; (first fighter, Ju 88C-0) July 1939; (Ju 88C-6) mid-1942; (first G-series) early 1944; (S-series) late 1943
Engine(s): (A-4) two 1,340 hp Junkers Jumo 211J 12-cylinder inverted-vee liquid-cooled; (C-6) same as A-4; (G-7) two 1,880 hp Junkers Jumo 213E 12-cylinder inverted-vee liquid-cooled; (S-1) two 1,700 hp BMW 801G 18-cylinder two-row radials
Wingspan: 65 ft 10.5 in (20.13 m) (early versions 59 ft 10.75 in)
Length: 47 ft 2.25 in (14.4 m)
Height: 15 ft 11 in (4.85 m); (C-6) 16 ft 7.5 in (5 m)
Weights: Empty: (A-4) 17,637 lb (8,000 kg); (G-7b) 20,062 lb (9,100 kg); (S-1) 18,300 lb (8,300 kg)
Maximum loaded: (A-4) 30,865 lb (14,000 kg); (C-6b) 27,500 lb (12,485 kg); (G-7b) 32,350 lb (14,690 kg); (S-1) 23,100 lb (10,490 kg)
Maximum Speed: (A-4) 269 mph (433 km/h); (C-6b) 300 mph (480 km/h); (G-7b with no drop tank or flame dampers) 402 mph (643 km/h); (S-1) 373 mph (600 km/h)
Service Ceiling: (A-4) 26,900 ft (8,200 m); (C-6b) 32,480 ft (9,900 m); (G-7b) 28,870 ft (8,800 m); (S-1) 36,090 ft (11,000 m)
Range: (A-4) 1,112 miles (1,790 km); (C-6b) 1,243 miles (2,000 km); (G-7b) 1,430 miles (2,300 km); (S-1) 1,243 miles (2,000 km)
Armament: Guns: (A-4) two 7.92 mm MG 81 (or one MG 81 and one 13 mm MG 131) firing forward, twin MG 81 or one MG 131 upper rear, one or two MG 81 at rear of ventral gondola and (later aircraft) two MG 81 at front of gondola; (C-6b) three 20 mm MG FF and three MG 17 in nose and two 20 mm MG 151 / 20 firing obliquely upward in Schräge Musik installation; (G-7b) four MG 151 / 20 (200 rounds each) firing forward from ventral fairing, two MG 151 / 20 in Schräge Musik installation (200 rounds each) and defensive MG 131 (500 rounds) swivelling in rear roof; (S-1) one MG 131 (500 rounds) swivelling in rear roof. Bomb Loads: (A-4) 1,100 lb (500 kg) internal and four external racks rated at 2,200 lb (1,000 kg) (inners) and 1,100 lb (500 kg) (outers) to maximum total bomb load of 6,614 lb (3,000 kg); (C-6b and G-7b) none carried; (S-1) up tp 4,410 lb (2,000 kg) on external racks
AIRCRAFT HISTORY
Probably no other aircraft in history has been developed in so many quite different forms for so many purposes - except, perhaps, for the De Havilland Mosquito. Flown long before World War II as a civil prototype, after a frantic design process led by two temporarily hired Americans well-versed in modern stressed-skin construction, the first Ju 88s were transformed into the heavier, slower and more capacious A-1 bombers which were just entering service as World War II began. The formidable bomb load and generally good performance were offset by inadequate defensive armament, and in the A-4 the span was increased, the bomb load and gun power substantially augmented and a basis laid for diverse further development. Though it would be fair to describe practically all the subsequent versions as a hodge-podge of lash-ups, the Ju 88 was structurally excellent, combined large internal fuel capacity with great load-carrying capability, and yet was never so degraded in performance as to become seriously vulnerable as were the Dornier and Heinkel bombers.
Indeed, with the BMW radial and the Jumo 213 engines, the later versions were almost as fast as the best contemporary fighters at all altitudes and could be flown around the sky quite violently into the bargain. A basic design feature was that all the crew were huddled together, to improve combat morale; but in the Battle of Britain it was found this merely made it difficult to add proper defensive armament, and in the later Ju 188 a much larger crew compartment was provided. Another distinctive feature was the large single struts of the main landing gear, sprung with stacks of chamfered rings of springy steel, and arranged to turn the big, soft-field wheels through 90° to lie flat in the rear of the nacelles. In 1940 to 1943 about 2,000 Ju 88 bombers were built each year, nearly all A-5 or A-5 versions. After splitting off completely new branches which led to the Ju 188 and 388, bomber development was directed to the streamlined S series of much higher performance, it having become accepted that the traditional Luftwaffe species of bomber was doomed if intercepted, no matter how many extra guns and crew it might carry. Indeed, even the bomb and fuel loads were reduced in most S sub-types, though the S-2 had fuel in the original bomb bay and large bulged bomb stowage (which defeated the objective of reducing drag).
Final bomber versions included the P series of big-gun anti-armour and close-support machines, the Nbwe with flame-throwers and recoilless rocket projectors, and a large family of Mistel composite-aircraft combinations, in which the Ju 88 lower portion was a pilotless missile steered by the fighter originally mounted on top. Altogether bomber, reconnaisance and related 88s totalled 10,774, while frantic construction of night fighter versions in 1944-45 brought the total to at least 14,980. The Ju 88 night fighters (especially the properly designed G series) were extremely formidable, bristling with radar and weapons and being responsible for destroying more Allied night bombers than all other fighters combined.
